Monthly Archives: September 2008

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Song of the Day #54: ‘Mercy On Me’ – Christina Aguilera

Here’s a song that I’m tempted to refer to as a guilty pleasure based on who’s performing it, but that wouldn’t be accurate. Far from guilt-worthy, this is an extremely well-written and well-performed song that’s close in spirit to the work of some of my favorites.

I don’t really know what to make of Christina Aguilera. When she hit the scene as a kind of response to and capitalization on the Britney Spears phenomenon, I dismissed her as another pop tart with looks in place of talent. But the truth is she was a victim of her marketing. She’s got a voice better than any of the mega-stars out there, and puts the showier artists like Madonna to shame.

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Song of the Day #53: ‘Comikbuchland’ – The Negro Problem

In a just world, Stew would be a superstar.

But in the world we live in, he’s barely on the map. He doesn’t even have the sort of fame Elvis Costello enjoys, where he’s never in danger of selling a million records but he shows up on TV and his albums are easy to find on Best Buy’s shelves. I’ve had to buy all Stew’s albums online, and his Negro Problem CDs aren’t even in print anymore. Very discouraging.

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Burn After Reading

Let me say right up front that I’ve never been able to properly digest a Coen Brothers movie after just one viewing. So anything I say about this one is probably just half of what I’ll think about it once I know it a little better. And I definitely look forward to knowing it better, so that says something right there.

Following their biggest commercial and critical success, the multiple Oscar-winning, violently bleak No Country For Old Men, the Coens have returned to another of their strengths, screwball comedy. But what struck me most about Burn After Reading is that it is as pessimistic about humanity — if not more so — than No Country.

(Minor spoilers follow, so read at your own risk)

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Song of the Day #52: ‘De Perros Amores’ – Control Machete

My second Spanish-language selection comes from the soundtrack of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s great 2000 film, Amores Perros. Mexican rap group Control Machete contributed two songs to the soundtrack, only one of which actually appears in the film.

This one was played in the film’s trailer — one of the best trailers I’ve seen. Foreign language films often have great trailers because, in order to appeal to American audiences, they usually leave the subtitled dialogue out completely and tell the story with only images and sound. Here’s a link to the trailer, if you’re interested… I didn’t use it below because it doesn’t feature the whole song and it contains some spoilers.

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Song of the Day #51: ‘Bryn’ – Vampire Weekend

I’ll be 36 by the end of the year, and as far as I’m concerned that’s pretty young, especially in this world where 60 is the new 40. It follows that 36 is the new 16.

Still, once in awhile I get reminders that I’m no longer a spring chicken. Like when I realize it’s been a quarter century since the Dolphins were in the Super Bowl, even though I vividly remember watching that embarrassing defeat. Or when I find out that hot girl in a new TV show was born in 1990.

The emergence of Vampire Weekend has had this affect on me as well.

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